Annamária Kónyová
THE REFORMED CHURCH AND PRINCELY POWER IN THE TRANSYLVANIAN PRINCIPALITY IN THE
16TH – 17TH CENTURY
Abstract: The Calvinist Reformation had its own specific character in Transylvania during the 16th
and 17th centuries. The process of reformation was very narrowly connected with the process of the
rising independent Transylvania. These processes were started after the Battle of the Mohács(1526)
when the internal and international conditions allowed for the penetration the ideas of Lutheranism
and also the teaching of Calvinism in the 50s of the 16th century. The ideas of Calvinism were mainly
accepted by ethnic Hungarians. In 1564 during the synod in Nagyenyed the followers of Lutheranism
and Calvinism definitely separated, and the Calvinist established the first bishop, František Dávid.
During the following years the Calvinist church had to fight with the radical teaching of Unitarianism,
because many famous representatives of Calvinism accepted Unitarianism, for example František
Dávid or Gašpár Heltai (who translated the Bible into Hungarian). The “golden age” for the Reformed
church in Transylvania was the government of Gabriel Bethlen and Juraj I. Rákóczi. Both of them
were wealthy supporters of Calvinism and established many schools (Sárospatak, Nagyenyed). In
this period the Reformed church started reformation activities among the Romanian (Orthodox)
population, but with not great success. The decline of religious freedom in Transylvania started
during the 80s of the 17th century when the principality was coming back under the domination of
the Habsburgs.
Keywords: calvinism; Transylvania; reformed church; Bethlen; Rákóczi; princeps
THEOLOGICAL REVIEW, Vol. 92, 2021, No. 2, Number of Article 2, p. 150 – 168.
DOI: 10.14712/12117617.92.2.2